ASEAN ambassadors and UN officials have sat down to examine the two organisations’ joint projects and cooperation activities within their Plan of Action for 2016-2020.

Participants of the meeting pose for a group photo
(Source: Vietnam permanent mission to ASEAN)

At the Interface Meeting between the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN and the UN Delegation held in Jakarta on May 6, the sides acknowledged important progress in the ASEAN-UN special ties. 

They lauded the maintenance of high-level meetings on the sideline of high-level conferences between ASEAN and its partners, as well as ministerial-level meetings on the occasion of the UN General Assembly.

As heard at the function, the two sides have so far completed 90 percent of their action plan’s workload in terms of politics, economy, socio-culture, and experience exchange to help ASEAN shorten development gaps and boost the capacity of its Secretariat.

Representatives of both sides noted that the majority of bilateral cooperation projects in politics-security and economy have been completed ahead of schedule, particularly those related to peacekeeping missions, natural disaster management, economic integration, and sustainable growth.

They agreed to further enhance ties and work closely to complete the plan. 

The UN decided on a number of cooperation priorities with ASEAN for this year, including supporting Vietnam in hosting the ASEAN-UN Workshop: Regional Dialogue V, and collaboration to assist the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR), this December.

The UN said via workshops and training courses, it will continue sending experts to help ASEAN boost capacity in anti-terrorism, combating trans-border crime, human rights, food security, and forest protection, among others.

Joint work to meet goals of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, boost humanitarian aid, and response to climate change, as well as cooperation between the ASEAN and UN secretariats are also necessary, it said.